Monte Pincio, Rome
Artist
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
(American, 1858–1924)
Date1898–99
MediumWatercolor and graphite heightened with gum arabic on ivory wove watercolor paper
DimensionsImage: 15 7/16 x 19 3/4 in. (39.2 x 50.2 cm)
Frame: 24 1/4 x 28 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (61.6 x 72.4 x 7.0 cm)
Frame: 24 1/4 x 28 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (61.6 x 72.4 x 7.0 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.117
InterpretationMaurice Prendergast painted Monte Pincio, Rome (CR 746) during his first journey to Italy in 1898–1899. The watercolor is one of three known depictions of the popular promenade on Rome’s Monte Pincio. The other two are Pincian Hill, Rome (Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.), and Afternoon, Pincian Hill (Honolulu Academy of Arts). Elegant pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages travel up and down the switchback road that curves along the hillside, creating a sense of lively movement. Prendergast balanced these dynamic diagonals with the strong vertical rhythm of the trees and the solid horizontal presence of the brick wall in the distance. The resulting composition reveals a deliberate and carefully orchestrated arrangement of forms.
All three watercolors share remarkably similar compositions, though Prendergast altered colors and repositioned figures in each of the works. The rich and varied details of these images distinguish them from a monotype of the same location, also in the Terra Foundation collection, Monte Pincio (CR 1699), with its more simplified rendering. Whether the monotype or one of these watercolors was Prendergast's first image of Monte Pincio is unknown. For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.
All three watercolors share remarkably similar compositions, though Prendergast altered colors and repositioned figures in each of the works. The rich and varied details of these images distinguish them from a monotype of the same location, also in the Terra Foundation collection, Monte Pincio (CR 1699), with its more simplified rendering. Whether the monotype or one of these watercolors was Prendergast's first image of Monte Pincio is unknown. For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.
[possibly exhibited] Water Color Club: Thirteenth Annual Exhibition, Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, February 9–24, 1900 (perhaps as no. 92).
Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.
The Remembered Image: Prendergast Watercolors 1896–1906, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, October 23–December 6, 1986. [exh. cat.]
A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.
The Lure of Italy: American Artists and the Italian Experience, 1760–1914, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, September 16–December 13, 1992; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, February 3–April 11, 1993; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, May 23–August 8, 1993. [exh. cat.]
American Treasures: Chase, Whistler and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 26, 1996–January 5, 1997.
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Prendergast in Italy, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, July 18–September 20, 2009; The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy, October 9, 2009–January 3, 2010; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, February 14–May 9, 2010. [exh. cat.]
Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.
The Remembered Image: Prendergast Watercolors 1896–1906, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, October 23–December 6, 1986. [exh. cat.]
A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.
The Lure of Italy: American Artists and the Italian Experience, 1760–1914, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, September 16–December 13, 1992; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, February 3–April 11, 1993; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, May 23–August 8, 1993. [exh. cat.]
American Treasures: Chase, Whistler and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 26, 1996–January 5, 1997.
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
Prendergast in Italy, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, July 18–September 20, 2009; The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy, October 9, 2009–January 3, 2010; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, February 14–May 9, 2010. [exh. cat.]
“Gallery and Studio Notes." Boston Evening Transcript (February 27, 1900): 12. Text p. 12.
Glavin, Ellen, S. N. D. and Eleanor Green. “Chronology." In Maurice Prendergast: Art of Impulse and Color. (exh. cat., University of Maryland Art Gallery). College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland, 1976. Text p. 40.
The Magazine Antiques 71:4 (April 1982): 779. Ill. p. 779 (color).
Langdale, Cecily. Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast in the Terra Museum of American Art. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1984. Text pp. 14, 34, 41, 124; fig. 11, p. 29 (black & white).
Sokol, David M. “The Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois." The Magazine Antiques 126:5 (November 1984): 1156–69. Pl. XXIV, p. 1166 (color).
Seldin, Donna. The Remembered Image: Prendergast Watercolors 1896–1906. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1986. Text p. 11; cover (color), fig. 18 (color).
Adelson, Warren. The Unknown Pastels: Maurice Brazil Prendergast. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1987. Text p. 9; fig. 2, p. 9 (black & white).
Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Text p. 6; pl. T-113, p. 222 (color).
Clark, Carol, Nancy Mowll Mathews and Gwendolyn Owens. Maurice Brazil Prendergast; Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné. Munich, Germany and Williamstown, Massachusetts: Prestel-Verlag and The President and Trustees of Williams College, 1990. No. 746, p. 397; ill. no. 746, p. 397 (black & white).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 93; fig. 90, p. 95 (black & white).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 93; fig. 90, p. 95 (black & white).
Wattenmaker, Richard J. Maurice Prendergast. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers in association with The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1994. Text p. 52; pl. 38, p. 55 (color).
Mathews, Nancy Mowll with Elizabeth Kennedy. Prendergast in Italy. (exh. cat. also translated into Italian as Prendergast in Italia; all pages are identical) London: Merrell in association with Williams College Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text p. 120, 177 (checklist); fig. 45, p. 123 (color).
Glavin, Ellen, S. N. D. and Eleanor Green. “Chronology." In Maurice Prendergast: Art of Impulse and Color. (exh. cat., University of Maryland Art Gallery). College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland, 1976. Text p. 40.
The Magazine Antiques 71:4 (April 1982): 779. Ill. p. 779 (color).
Langdale, Cecily. Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast in the Terra Museum of American Art. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1984. Text pp. 14, 34, 41, 124; fig. 11, p. 29 (black & white).
Sokol, David M. “The Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois." The Magazine Antiques 126:5 (November 1984): 1156–69. Pl. XXIV, p. 1166 (color).
Seldin, Donna. The Remembered Image: Prendergast Watercolors 1896–1906. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1986. Text p. 11; cover (color), fig. 18 (color).
Adelson, Warren. The Unknown Pastels: Maurice Brazil Prendergast. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1987. Text p. 9; fig. 2, p. 9 (black & white).
Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Text p. 6; pl. T-113, p. 222 (color).
Clark, Carol, Nancy Mowll Mathews and Gwendolyn Owens. Maurice Brazil Prendergast; Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné. Munich, Germany and Williamstown, Massachusetts: Prestel-Verlag and The President and Trustees of Williams College, 1990. No. 746, p. 397; ill. no. 746, p. 397 (black & white).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 93; fig. 90, p. 95 (black & white).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 93; fig. 90, p. 95 (black & white).
Wattenmaker, Richard J. Maurice Prendergast. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers in association with The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1994. Text p. 52; pl. 38, p. 55 (color).
Mathews, Nancy Mowll with Elizabeth Kennedy. Prendergast in Italy. (exh. cat. also translated into Italian as Prendergast in Italia; all pages are identical) London: Merrell in association with Williams College Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text p. 120, 177 (checklist); fig. 45, p. 123 (color).
Mrs. Bayard Thayer, by c. 1900
Descended in family
Childs, Boston, Massachusetts, 1981
Arcadia, Washington, D.C., and Spanierman Gallery, 1981
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1982
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
